Tropical Storm Noel

Tropical storm Noel struck Hispanolia (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) on 29 October 2007, having moved across the Caribbean as a slow-moving tropical storm, growing into a Category-1 hurricane, leaving 118 people dead. Hardest-hit were the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where 116 people were killed in floods and landslides.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The rain brought floods and strong winds that took the country by surprise, as no one had expected the high levels of rainfall that caused widespread damage from Santo Domingo on the south coast to Puerto Plata on the north coast, along the western stretches of the country.  The government has declared a national emergency and has requested international aid to help them deal with the crisis, both immediately and for long-term rehabilitation.

On 4 November, only isolated showers continued, with much of the severe rainfall having died away. However, the Centre of Emergency Operations (COE) has continued a state of Red Alert in almost all of the country, as floods and landslides still threaten.

According to the National Commission for Emergencies, summarized in its latest report issued on 3 November 2007: 87 people have been reported dead and 48 missing. Some 16, 712 houses were affected, of which 737 were completely destroyed. The numbers of people displaced is estimated to exceed 66, 800 (more than 23,000 seeking shelter in 121 shelters, and  more than 43.500 in homes of relatives and friends). Overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in  the shelters are causing intestinal diseases and conjunctivitis. However, within the communities, with the unprecedented influx of additional people into homes, overstretched hygienic conditions are also likely to result in diseases.

Swollen rivers and 46 broken bridges are still seeing to it that 100 communities remain cut off. In the southwest of the country Barahona and Azua still remain without electricity and telecommunications. It has been impossible for authorities to access and survey these areas by helicopter due to the continued rains and a lack of visibility up until now, but with the rain having stopped, people are gaining access to these isolated communities.

Many communities are also facing a lack of clean drinking water due to the flooding, damaged pipes and aqueducts, and damaged pumping stations without electricity. The authorities are beginning to draw up reports on the affects of the flooding on the agricultural sector, with the worst affected crops being plantain, rice, fruit trees and bananas. Many areas are still without power and some roads are still impassable because of debris and landslides.

ACT members Christian Aid,  Church World Service (CWS), Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), and Social Services of the Dominican Churches (SSID) have made assessments and are planning to respond. ACT member Christian Aid and its locl implementing partnersS have started assessing needs in the affected communities of the national districts Santo Domingo Este, Zona Oriental, Haina, Sabana Grande, Zona Norte, San Luis, San Pedro and Villa Altagracia. Immediate needs are: food and baby food, hygiene kits, non-food items, bedding, essential household items and roofing and building materials. In the medium term, there will be a need to support the most vulnerable with livelihood and shelter programs.

CWS has supported an effort by Grupo de Pastores Interdenominaciales (GPI) to assist the most vulnerable and most impoverished—those living in the bateyes (shantytowns)—who in the past have not received assistance from local and national authorities during other emergencies. The majority of the affected areas where GPI plans a response, include communities in which GPI has some type of working history: in the areas of agriculture, sewing projects, literacy programs, small loans to women’s groups for small business projects and immigration and human rights. In  communities with such programs GPI has committees for the implementation of project work. Specifically, GPI’s response will focus on assistance to 679 persons in 15 bateyes in the eastern Dominican Republic, not far from the border with Haiti, comprising mainly Haitian residents.

ACT member NCA plans to support the ACT member SSID and its implementing partner Procaribe.  Procaribe has assessed the damage in its area of intervention in Santo Domingo. About 550 families have suffered considerable damage to their property: all of them lost most of their harvest,  cattle and livestock, with many of their homes flooded.

Christian Aid will coordinate with ACT members Social Services of the Dominican Churches, the government agencies and national and international organizations that are working in the area. Christian Aid is planning to reach out to 1000-5000 families with immediate relief and livelihoods and rehabilitation support. SSID intends to support about 2500 people from 20 communities with the distribution of food rations, bottled water, bedding and basic medicines in the southwest region (San Juan Barahona) and eastern region (Monte Plata). These communities are within the most affected areas and its people are among the most vulnerable communities composed of Haitian and Dominican-Haitian background.  

SSID has prepared a proposal for a Rapid Response Fund. 

The ACT members consider coordinating a joint ACT appeal in the days to come. 

HAITI

Overall, the situation is very difficult in Haiti. Due to massive deforestation, heavy rains always pose severe threats. Tropical storm Noel hit in an especially vulnerable period, since Haiti had already suffered extremes from Hurricane Dean in August 2007 and unusually heavy rains had affected the country in the first weeks of October, causing floods and human casualties. Noel and the consecutive rains caused massive floods and damage in most departments: the south, south east, north west, west, Grand Anse, Artibonite and Nippes. According to the Department of Civil Protection on 3 November 2007,  57 people have died, with 17 reported missing and 104 injured. More than 11,100 people have been evacuated and forced to seek shelter in schools, churches and other public buildings. Buildings, infrastructure and crops, such as coffee, have suffered massive damages. The civil protection authority says that central government does not have the means to cope with the emergency, and a number of international agencies have volunteered to provide material and psychosocial assistance.  

The ACT forum in Haiti, comprising ACT members Christian Aid (CAID), Diakonie Emergency Aid (DEA), Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Swiss Interchurch Aid (HEKS) and United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), as well as the organisations Fédération Protestante d'Haiti (FPH) and Service Chrétien d'Haiti (SCH), completed a preliminary assessment of the situation. Most severely affected areas in the south and south east departments are still not accessible, as bridges and roads have been destroyed. In some cases, access is only possible by air. ACT members have been in contact with their partners by phone in order to gather information on the extent of the damage, to be able to prepare their responses. On 1 November, a team of LWF staff together with FPH staff assessed the damage in various parts of  Plaine du Cul-de-Sac (in the west), which was the hardest hit. The team visited schools where  people had taken refuge. In the of Bigarade alongside the river, some 8,000 of the 24,000 residents remain without shelter.

The ACT Forum members are considering issuing an appeal.

Any funding indication or pledge should be communicated to Jessie Kgoroeadira, ACT Finance Officer (jkg@act-intl.org).